In 2011 Arsène Wenger lured Per Mertesacker to London, followed by Lukas Podolski twelve months later and Mesut Özil last year. This summer the Arsenal manager has once again turned to the German national side for inspiration when considering how to strengthen his squad, after two consecutive fourth-place finishes for the Gunners in the Premier League. As a result, Shad Forsythe, Die Mannschaft’s fitness coach for the past decade, is moving to England’s top flight with immediate effect. His task is to prepare the North London team for their next title bid after they last lifted the trophy in 2004, and the appointment means Forsythe is leaving the national side’s fitness team.
The Arsenal squad was hit by a series of injuries to key players last season, resulting in long layoffs for both Jack Wilshire and Aaron Ramsey, so the club will hope Forsythe can help reduce the number of player absences during the upcoming campaign. English newspaper The Guardian is already dubbing the World Cup winners’ fitness coach Wenger’s best new signing – high praise indeed when you consider that Arsenal have already brought in Chilean international striker Alexis Sanchez this summer. The club’s French manager previously declared himself "impressed" with Forsythe’s work.
Modern tools provide key to success
At this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, Germany’s national team ran an average of 113 kilometres per game compared to approximately 100 kilometres covered by their opponents. Forsythe enabled the squad to outpace their rivals in Brazil using state-of-the-art tools such as myCoach, a system that allows trainers to record and review performance data in real time. Despite these advances, the University of Tennessee graduate is also not afraid to rely on more traditional methods such as ice baths. Armed with these tools, the team’s fitness coaches, physiotherapists and doctors ensured that Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger each returned to full fitness in time to contribute to their team’s successful campaign.
In 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann appointed Mark Verstegen to the national team, quickly followed by Shad Forsythe. Despite initially mocking the coaches for their use of exercise bands and resistance sleds, the footballing world quickly realised they were on to something, and rubber bands are now a standard training tool even in the lower leagues. For ten years, Forsythe acted as a go-between for the national team and Verstegen’s company EXOS, taking a consistently holistic approach to fitness as every area of a player’s life and training regime was scrutinised. What emerged was an underlying performance culture incorporating mindset, nutrition, training and recovery among its primary components.
It was an approach that paid dividends at this summer’s World Cup, and which must now be continued and developed without the help of Shad Forsythe.
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In 2011 Arsène Wenger lured Per Mertesacker to London, followed by Lukas Podolski twelve months later and Mesut Özil last year. This summer the Arsenal manager has once again turned to the German national side for inspiration when considering how to strengthen his squad, after two consecutive fourth-place finishes for the Gunners in the Premier League. As a result, Shad Forsythe, Die Mannschaft’s fitness coach for the past decade, is moving to England’s top flight with immediate effect. His task is to prepare the North London team for their next title bid after they last lifted the trophy in 2004, and the appointment means Forsythe is leaving the national side’s fitness team.
The Arsenal squad was hit by a series of injuries to key players last season, resulting in long layoffs for both Jack Wilshire and Aaron Ramsey, so the club will hope Forsythe can help reduce the number of player absences during the upcoming campaign. English newspaper The Guardian is already dubbing the World Cup winners’ fitness coach Wenger’s best new signing – high praise indeed when you consider that Arsenal have already brought in Chilean international striker Alexis Sanchez this summer. The club’s French manager previously declared himself "impressed" with Forsythe’s work.
Modern tools provide key to success
At this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, Germany’s national team ran an average of 113 kilometres per game compared to approximately 100 kilometres covered by their opponents. Forsythe enabled the squad to outpace their rivals in Brazil using state-of-the-art tools such as myCoach, a system that allows trainers to record and review performance data in real time. Despite these advances, the University of Tennessee graduate is also not afraid to rely on more traditional methods such as ice baths. Armed with these tools, the team’s fitness coaches, physiotherapists and doctors ensured that Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger each returned to full fitness in time to contribute to their team’s successful campaign.
In 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann appointed Mark Verstegen to the national team, quickly followed by Shad Forsythe. Despite initially mocking the coaches for their use of exercise bands and resistance sleds, the footballing world quickly realised they were on to something, and rubber bands are now a standard training tool even in the lower leagues. For ten years, Forsythe acted as a go-between for the national team and Verstegen’s company EXOS, taking a consistently holistic approach to fitness as every area of a player’s life and training regime was scrutinised. What emerged was an underlying performance culture incorporating mindset, nutrition, training and recovery among its primary components.
It was an approach that paid dividends at this summer’s World Cup, and which must now be continued and developed without the help of Shad Forsythe.
